My Little Demons
by GirlEnigma
Summary: *HIATUS* Vincent's beasts are starting to get the better of him and he's the only one who Yuffie can turn to for help. Yuffentine mostly. Rating may change.
1. Dancing Moogles

**A/N: Okay, I'm trying to make the whole story (or at least most of it) in Vincent's POV. I'm going to actually try to write a darker side to the man. Focus more on his beasts. So lemme know whatcha think! My motivation feeds off reviews sometimes, y'know! Critics, comments, flames, happy-squee-go-lucky, etc.**

**Also, in case the voices get confusing I've made a list: (I would have preferred to use different fonts, but that's impossible with FFNET)**

_**Bold italics Galian Beast**_

**CAPS BOLD UNDERLINED DEATH GIGAS**

_Italics Hellmasker_

**Bold Chaos**

**-/-/-/-/-**

My skin prickled against the cold breeze. I grunted an undistinguishable syllable and limped over to a tree. I sat down with another grunt and tried to catch my breath.

Who knows how long I had been detached from reality like this. The last thing I could remember was my long trek over the mountains from Costa Del Sol to Lucrecia's cave where I had acquired Death Penalty, such a long time ago.

I hunted her, as the Galian Beast put it so eloquently.

I couldn't help it. She was just like me now. We were both ageless and horrified of ourselves. I thought that if there was anyone that I could find solace in, it would be her. Of course, I had a feeling that she would just shun me and I would find myself hunting her forever. Perhaps that was Hojo's secret plan for me, my eternal atonement and his eternal malicious prank.

"**You could just end the vicious cycle and rejoin the Turks again. That was fun," **Chaos sneered, forcing me to remember the millions of times I had slaughtered someone.

I hissed unpleasantly.

"_When we find Lucrecia, let's rape her and then kill her. We can do it. Kill, kill, kill," _Hellmasker gleefully whispered.

"**SHUT UP YOU INSOLENT MAGGOT,"** Death Gigas roared, silencing all other thoughts.

I enjoyed any minute of silence these days. For some reason, the demons in my mind were becoming louder, harder to control and, most distressing of all, they were forming solid personalities. They had always been there, whispering things to me, but they had never formed solid personas. I never knew which one was talking before, and now I could feel them, like they were right beside me. It was disturbing.

The Galian Beast rarely spoke, but instead gave off waves of uncontrollable animal urges. His voice was a commanding purr that always lulled my senses. He was truly the beast out of all of them. He only thought of three things: sex (uncontrollably when he was excited), food and sleep.

Death Gigas was remarkably level headed. His voice was loud, clear and powerful. He seemed to have a commanding air over the other three as well, which was queer, considering I had always assumed Chaos was the leading personality. He, however, seemed to be my only voice of reason.

Hellmasker, who I despised the most, was obviously psychotic. His voice was always raspy and thick with madness. He only thought of blood. He would always whisper seductively to me, always trying to get me to see that his way was the right way. I shuddered at the possibility that one day, he may persuade me.

And, of course, Chaos was the most talkative of the four. He spoke in a normal conversational voice, but it seemed to be too charismatic. He was quite sardonic as well. He also seemed to have formed an alliance with Hellmasker, which worries me even more. They seem to agree more and more.

I had been avoiding towns for almost four months, ever since these things have started getting worse. Unfortuantely, I had underestimated a group of dragons and I was in some considerable pain. To make matters worse, I could feel myself becoming dehydrated and I hadn't eaten in five days. I could feel the Galian Beast getting frusterated.

"**_There's a town nearby," _**he said, sending a shiver up my spine, "**_Nibelheim. We are starving."_**

"**I don't particularly like you, Valentine," **Chaos said, "**But we don't wanna die out here, looking for some ugly, old broad."**

"_Nibelheim is warm and ripe for the picking," _Hellmasker said, making me lick my lips, "_Let's pillage and burn! Kill, kill."_

"**I HATE TO AGREE WITH ANY OF THEM,"** Death Gigas said, "**HOWEVER IF WE PROCEED LIKE THIS THERE IS NOTHING BUT DEATH FOR US TO SEARCH OUT."**

I grudging agreed with his argument. I wasn't entirely immortal. I still required the basic functions of a human. I sighed, feeling very uneasy about going into a town.

Suddenly I felt my body convulse. My eyes widened as my vision grew hazy, and I felt my body change. I knew that somehow, I was transforming involuntarily. I couldn't stop the tidal wave of emotions and feelings as the Galian Beast took over me. I felt him now as though he was myself.

"**How's it going Valentine?"** Chaos snickered, "**The backseat is pretty comfortable, considering how you drive."**

"What are you-?" I started.

Then I realized what he meant. I saw myself, as though I was outside of my body. I looked about the same except for a few distinguishing factors. I had a long purple tail protruding out of my red cloak and there were massive claws where once was hands and feet. I also felt like my body was structured differently. Running four-legged was much more comfortable and faster than running on my two legs.

The expression on my face was fiercer as well. It stunned me to see myself this way. I had a hunger in my eyes that I couldn't explain. It was an animalistic dominance that I couldn't recognize.

"**_Nibelheim._** **_Food,"_** I watched my mouth say.

Then I sped off down the mountainside.

"_Nibelheim!_ _Nibelheim!" _Hellmasker screeched gleefully.

"Shut up," I growled at him.

And I felt myself melt out of consciousness.

-/-/-/-/-

I awoke who knows how much later, finding myself back in my body. It was just at the beginning of the night, I noted, observing the sun setting into the horizon. I also observed that I could see the town quite well.

I stood up hesitantly, finding myself just as weak and pained as before the Galian Beast had taken over. I limped as fast as I could over to Nibelheim.

I reached the town miraculously without any hindrance and saw a dog eating near the town square out of his dog bowl. My enhanced vision zoomed in. It appeared to be some kibble mixed with some unidentified brown clumpy stuff.

"**_Food, quickly host!" _**the Galian Beast ordered, once again feeling my body being controlled by him. He strode over to the bowl, growling at the dog, and commanded me to eat.

His sensations were filling my mind and I could do nothing but obey. He controlled me and yet I was still myself. But I ate, oblivious to the crowd that had formed around me.

Food, glorious food, I licked the bowl clean.

I gave an unceremonious burp when I looked up innocently to see almost the whole town, looking at me, horrified expressions on their face.

Instantly I began to shrink away into myself. I was a monster. I chanted it, like a mantra. Even the dog looked as if he regarded me as such.

I heard a familiar voice in the crowd, questioning loudly, but I paid no mind. I was already past coherent thoughts.

"**Hurry, run!** **We've been found out,"** Chaos urged, "**They will use us as a specimen again!"**

"_No, let us smirk at them and eat them all! A feast like no other! Flesh! Let us eat all of their flesh!"_

"**_They are intruding on our territory! We have to kill them!"_**

"Kill…" I whispered, barely audible.

"**NO. LOOK AT THE CROWD. SHE IS CALLING YOU."**

I shook my head and looked up into a pair of twinkling gray eyes.

"Vinnie? What'dya doin'?" Yuffie asked me curiously, "Are you eatin' dog food?"

I lowered my head, ashamed.

"**Vinnie?"** Chaos guffawed, "**I definitely like her."**

"…What's it taste like? I was always curious. It don't smell too bad, to me."

I looked up, surprised at her question. She just grinned back at me, holding her hand out to me. Friendly. Warm.

I refused her hand but stood up quietly, evading everyone's eyes.

"Oi," she said, shaking her head, but still smiling, "Everybody scram! There's nothing to see! Go on! SCRAAAAM!"

She continued to shout at everyone, running around, pushing people away. Finally, the crowd dispersed and left Yuffie and I alone, in the middle of the square.

"You don't look so good," she said, tugging on my cloak, "Let's go to my room at the inn, okay?"

I let her lead me up into her room at the inn. She vaguely gave me inclinations to the shower. Well, not too vague. This was Yuffie after all. So it was actually a lot blunter.

"Vinnie, I adore you, but you smell like a dead skunk that's been roastin' on the road for two months, in the middle of summer."

"Thank you," I replied wryly.

"I don't mean it like an insult!" Yuffie sighed, "Just take a shower, stinky."

"I don't want to intrude."

"Intrude on what?" Yuffie said, waving her hand at me, "I came to Nibelheim hoping to find you!"

"Find me?"

"No, I came to find the OTHER vampire living in a coffin in the Shinra mansion."

"…There's another…?"

"Oi!" she said, this one more adamant, "I was joking!"

I made some sort of 'hmm' sound and asked, "Why?"

"'Cause I need your help. Everyone is too busy or too annoyed by me. The only positive answer I got from anyone was a 'maybe' from Reeve."

I scowled at the mention of his name. I disliked Yuffie's association with Reeve, simply because Reeve had too many connections with Shinra that he continued to keep up with.

"Don't gimme that look Vinnie," Yuffie sighed, rolling her eyes.

It had also been very obvious to me that Yuffie had always a slight crush on the man since he had seemed to share her sense of mischief. And I have a feeling that Reeve leads her on purposely for his own mischief.

"C'mon! I'll get you some of Cloud's clothes," Yuffie chirped.

"Cloud?"

"Yeah! He lives here now. Weird huh? Moved into his old house. Also kinda creepy, but whatever."

I turned my head, not really caring.

"_Mmm,"_ Hellmasker purred, "_She's getting riper every time I see her. I would love to just rip her open and lick her heart just as it stopped beating."_

I shuddered at Hellmasker's voice.

"VINNIE!" Yuffie yelled, snapping him back to reality, "Stop dawdling! I'm gonna have to open a window as it is!"

The young girl had blossomed more than I had expected. She certainly was still of the same blunt and cheerful mind, however she had gotten a little taller and her hair had grown down to the middle of her waist. She even had the smallest hint of curves now. Unfortunately, I could feel three of my personalities practically tracing them with invisible fingers.

"**_She still has no mate,"_** the Galian Beast said, "**_I bet she could bare at least three litters. She's stronger now."_**

"Alright," I said, removing my cloak, "I will clean up."

"Goodie!" she said cheerfully, jumping up into the air, "Then, we can have dinner together and talk! I'll let you sleep in here too! I can have the innkeeper bring up a cot, no extra charge!"

She winked at me and then left. I sighed, feeling almost too weary to keep up with Yuffie's conversations. I walked into the bathroom, shut the door and glanced into the mirror.

I was not vain in the least, but even I frowned when I looked at my appearance. My face was as pale as ever, becoming almost as stark white as the very walls the mirror was mounted on, and I had purple bags under my eyes. Although I still held my unemotional gaze, anyone could see my fatigue that I could not mask. It was an inbred fatigue that had been smothering my body. No amount of sleep could lift this fatigue. It was a weariness that came with realizing that I could not age and drift on into the next world peacefully with everyone else. A weariness that came with realizing that I was an outcast to every human being. A weariness that came with realizing that I was really not a human anymore.

My hair was stringy too. It hung in clumps around my bandana. There was dirt encrusted onto my face as well, along with a few scratches and old blood caked around them.

No wonder the crowd gaped at me so. Not only was I eating dog food ravenously, but I looked like a mess.

I sighed, removing my bandana and my clothes. My claw arm didn't seem to be capable of rusting so it was never a big deal to shower with it. I had gotten it very wet on numerous occasions. I even went swimming that one time everyone had gathered at Costa Del Sol for fun a few years ago. Yuffie and Reeve had been increasingly annoying in their attempts to make me so I had finally agreed, tired of them hounding me.

Cloud, Barrett and Cid could barely contain their laughter. Needless to say the only pair of swimming apparel that was left for me to borrow was Barrett's sailor suit thing. I didn't really care which way or another. It was just clothes, but Yuffie had taken a picture, and I had a feeling she carried it with her everywhere, just for giggles.

I turned the shower on, making sure the water was sufficiently warm, and then I stepped in. I closed my eyes and focused on the heat bathing my body. All of my personalities seemed to be drinking in the same sensation. It was relaxing, for all five of us.

After a significant time of just standing there, I used some shampoo and scrubbed my hair. I rinsed and focused on scrubbing all of the dirt and blood away. After I was satisfied with my cleansed state, I shut off the water and grabbed the nearest towel.

"Vinnie!" Yuffie called from outside the door, "Can you get back in the shower real quick?"

"Why?"

"Well, I'm gonna open the door and put the clothes in there. I don't need to be exposed to your chunk of man!"

I raised one of my eyebrows as I heard her refer to my 'chunk of man' but said, "Alright."

I climbed back into the shower and pulled the curtain closed.

"It is safe to enter," I said.

The door opened and I felt all of the sweet steam being sucked out into the cold bedroom. I heard the flop of clothing and then she shut the door again, keeping what heat was left trapped in. I climbed back out again and put on the clothes wordlessly.

She had delivered me a pair of boxers, which unnerved me a little, a pair of faded blue jeans and a pink T-shirt that had dancing moogles on the front.

I opened the door when I was finished and walked out to see her sitting on the bed. She was wearing three quarter length green pants, rainbow sandals, fingerless elbow length gloves and a sleeveless white tank with a big styrofoam cup of ramen noodles on it with some Wutaian characters underneath. "Peace, Love, Chicken-Flavored Mao-chan Ramen Noodles!" She had also pulled her hair back into two braids, one hanging over each shoulder.

She smiled at me and hopped off her bed. She ran up to me and stood up on her tip toes. She buried her face into my neck/collarbone area. She appeared to be sniffing me.

I stiffened as I heard to Chaos making some jeering noises.

"Ah!" Yuffie said, pulling herself back, "You smell much better!"

"Soap has that effect," I said.

"Well, duh," she giggled, tugging on my pink moogle shirt.

"Does Cloud actually own this shirt?" I asked.

"I know!" Yuffie said, "It's pretty ugly, but Tifa bought it for him at the Gold Saucer. She would pummel him if he ever directly got rid of it."

My lips twitched upward for a small second and then I looked away.

"Well now that you don't smell like roadkill," Yuffie said brightly, "Let's go get some grub! It probably won't be too much better than the dog food though. Seems like everyone in Nibelheim cooks as well as Tifa."

She scrunched her face up at her own remark.

Even though Tifa was quite good at making drinks and maintaining her bar, the poor girl couldn't even make a cheese sandwich.

"Food's food though," Yuffie smiled, grabbing my claw arm, "And I'm starvin'! Let's go!"

I automatically transferred her hand to my real arm and let her lead me downstairs to the kitchen of the inn.


	2. Ew Meatloaf

**A/N: I have a lot of fun writing the random comments of all of Vinnie's demons. Chaos is the most fun 'cause he's so sarcastic and joking. Too bad he torments poor Vinnie. He's such a blabber mouth! Although Chaos is so pervy… **

**Thanks for the reviews everyone!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned FF7, would I really be writing a fanfiction about it? Oh well. I don't anyway.**

We sat down wordlessly at the simple wooden table in the kitchen of the inn. It looked as if they had made the whole inn a bit bigger. I haven't been here in ages though.

The waitress smiled at us and gave us both a cold glass of water. After she walked away Yuffie leaned into my ear and whispered to me, "Its weird how Nibelheim has grown. All of Shinra's old employees still live here, but so do all these new refugees from Midgar! The town has been growing so fast!"

I nodded as she leaned back over and sat more comfortably in her chair.

Yuffie's words rang true enough. I hadn't really taken a lot of time to look at Nibelheim properly but I could tell that it had grown. There were a few more houses and a bar next door to the inn. I had a small urge to go and check out the new bar.

"**Aww, are you wanting a drink, _Vinnie?_"** Chaos sneered.

I glared inwardly at Chaos.

Suddenly I heard a soft humming coming from Yuffie. She was serenely looking at her menu. I was almost lulled by the delicate song. But Yuffie, being Yuffie, ended it abruptly and began to initiate conversation.

"So, Vinnie, how have you been?" she said, smiling at me, "Nobody has heard from you in ages!"

"…I've been fine," I lied.

"_Liar, liar, liar, LIAR!_ _PICK UP YOUR KNIFE AND CUT INTO SWEET PAIN!" _Hellmasker shrieked.

Yuffie gave me an odd, calculating look, as if she did not believe me either. I wouldn't be too surprised. It's not as if I lied very convincingly. But I had no intentions of telling her what had been happening to me. There was no need for her to get involved in my problems. My problems always led to more problems and then death. And this time, I was hoping it would be my own death.

"Vinnie," she said quietly, looking at her hands, folded neatly in her lap, "Y'know I'm going to be 22 next week."

"I was not aware of that," I said, "The years seemed to have flown by."

"No, they haven't," Yuffie said, still looking at her hands, "I haven't seen you in 3 years. Why don't you ever call?"

"…There has never been a reason for me to contact anyone."

"We're your friends!" she said, snapping her head up to look at me, "Don't you know that we worry about you? I worry about you!"

"I'm flattered, really," I said harshly, "But there is no reason for you to worry about me."

"Yes there is," she said, "You're so angsty and broody that I always worry about whether or not you're gonna shut yourself up in another stupid box or throw yourself off a cliff or something - all for some ridiculous redemption."

"It is not ridiculous," I said threateningly, "You couldn't possibly understand."

"Oh, I understand. And it's still ridiculous. It's so stupid that I want to slap you sometimes."

"Then why don't you? Get it over with and leave me alone."

"I'm not ever going to leave you alone," she said, standing up, "So even if I have to hunt you down, through the overgrown forests of Mideel to the quicksand traps around the Golden Saucer, I will."

And then she turned on her heel and walked off. I heard the inn door open and close loudly.

I sighed. What a hindrance. She didn't even tell me what she wanted my help with.

"**Seems to me like she likes ya, Valentine," **Chaos laughed, "**Isn't that hilarious?"**

"_I can take her for you. I can find her in a dark place and relish in her hot virginity!"_

"Don't talk about her like that," I growled.

"**No need to get all defensive, Valentine!" **Chaos said, "**but, seriously, Hellmasker, why do you always have to talk about raping people? Is it some sort of fetish? I think you ate paint chips as a child."**

I sighed as my inner demons continued bickering. I stood up wordlessly and headed towards the door. I suppose I should follow her. She did save me, in a manner of speaking, from myself. I should at least show my gratitude by helping her with whatever task was at hand. Besides, she was only talking out of concern. I shouldn't have been so gruff. However, I can never seem to stop my defense mechanisms.

I sighed again as I spotted her sitting at gate of the Shinra Mansion. I walked over to her and stood beside her, completely silent.

It was a comfortable silence though. It was odd, I don't think I've ever shared a silence with Yuffie.

Finally, I heard her crack her fingers and breathe in deeply.

"I searched this mansion hardcore last week when I found out it was going to be demolished."

"Demolished?"

"Yep. Since Shinra is all new now, they've decided to get rid of some of their old stuff, like this mansion and all the reactors."

"Oh."

"It's supposed to be destroyed tomorrow morning actually."

I was silent. It was certainly a surprise. I had always assumed that the mansion would always be here, waiting for me to rejoin my casket in the basement. I had so many memories in that place. Of course, all of them were horrible and painful, but a very select few were the happiest and fondest memories I have ever had.

I could almost see Lucrecia standing behind the gate, waving at me to hurry up and bring the groceries inside. Such a beautiful lady…

"Of course, it was scheduled to be demolished last week originally."

I looked over at her sharply. She was looking out into town, a smile playing at her lips.

"I went crazy on all of the demolition men," she giggled, "I thought you might have been in there, just sawing logs in your stupid coffin, not even knowing that they were going to blow the place up. I said, 'hold it! There's a vampire down there! You've gotta let me calm his rage first before you blow away his house!' They thought I was completely bonkers. But they let me search until I had my fill. I searched every freaking cavity there, making sure you weren't hiding any place. Only when I was satisfied did I tell them that the vampire had gone looking for another human sacrifice and that it was safe."

"…Human sacrifice?" I said questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"Isn't that what vampires do?" she said innocently, looking up at me, "Well, it doesn't matter. The demolition men just sorta patted me on the head."

I coughed back a chuckle as I imagined the whole scene.

"We always sorta got left behind by everyone, when we were on that Sephiroth hunt all those years ago," she said quietly, looking back at the town, "I know you probably didn't like me that much, but when we talked, it was good. It's kind of weird saying this, I don't really like being mushy or whatever, but you're probably the first real friend I've ever had. Sure, Chocobo Head and Co are my friends too, but I always thought we were closer. Maybe we weren't. Well…we probably weren't, but whatever. Reeve too. You guys are the only friends I can say that I am actually close with."

"I apologize for being harsh with you earlier," I said, almost choking on the words, "I didn't mean to, but I don't want to bring you into any of my personal problems."

"**I'd like to bring her into them. Mmm I'd like to get her right in here. Right where--"**

I cut off his thoughts and pushed them away.

Yuffie looked up at me, smiling, "Vinnie, you're such a dork."

"A dork?"

"Anyway, let's just forget this whole thing for now," she said, standing up, "I have plenty of time to pry later."

"Indeed. I'm sure you will try."

She pulled on my T-shirt affectionately and smiled up at me, "Don't underestimate my awesome ninja skillz! I won't go easy on you, just 'cause you're a n00b either! I will penetrate your defense and learn all of your secrets ranging from how you style your hair to how you get all those buckles undone in time when you REALLY, REALLY gotta PEE!"

She bounced up and down and dragged me back towards the inn. I shook my head and chuckled anyway. She was such an eccentric person.

"Woot!" she yelled as she opened the inn door again.

This time we actually sat down and ate a fairly edible meal.

"GAWD!" she exclaimed, throwing a particularly large bean at my head, "The town might be growing, but everyone who comes here is gonna die of starvation! The menu is: would you rather have big nasty beans, small nasty beans…or MEATLOAF! BLARGHH GROSSNESS!"

I sighed, eating my meatloaf wordlessly. Sure, it didn't taste fabulous, but I wasn't going to scream about it. Although, I can't deny that I usually find Yuffie's unending rants rather amusing.

"I hate beans AND meatloaf! These people are sadistic, I tell ya, they must have known I was comin'!" Yuffie said, making giant gestures with her hands, "'QUICK YUFFIE'S COMIN'! WE GOTTA GET THE NASTY MENUS OUT!' Man, I bet they chuckled all maliciously too, when I walked in, totally oblivious, renting a nice room. ARRGHH! And I tipped the stupid bellboy who brought my bags up too! EVIL, I say! EVIL!"

-/-/-/-/-/-

After dinner we retreated to Yuffie's room. The cot was magically already set-up by the window. I almost had to carry Yuffie out of the kitchen, as she was threatening to eat the check.

She had calmed down by the time we had situated ourselves in the room though. I sat down comfortably in the cot and she had kicked off her shoes and took off her gloves and hopped into her bed, snuggling the pillow intimately.

"Mmm, I could almost fall asleep," she said, scratching her chest and pulling out something from an inside pocket. She smiled lovingly at the picture she had pulled out and slipped it into her nightstand, giving me a threatening look as she slid the drawer in the nightstand back, "Look in there and suffer Valentine."

"**Ooo, I like a little pain," **Chaos said, excitedly, "**She could spank me all she wanted. Bondage can be good to you, Vinnie."**

I simply nodded at her in response, ignoring Chaos as always, and looked out the window, "Yuffie, you still have not told me what you would like my help with."

"Oh!" she said, "I guess I got a little too carried away with talking with you that I didn't even realize it. Sorry. Um, it's a bit of a weird request."

"And?"

"Leviathan's scales are all over the world. It was said that Leviathan shed all of his scales in one mighty shake and became part of the heavens, forever looking upon Wutai with favor. Every new monarch of Wutai must perform some sort of rite to ascend the throne. I want to find one of Leviathan's scales and present it to Wutai on the day of my ascension. The sucky part is, I only have a really crappy lead, and it'll probably be dangerous. Usually I'd be okay traveling around by myself, but I have Wutai to think about, so I think it'd be best if I traveled with someone, just in case I come across some really powerful baddie that I have to take down."

"…And you want me to accompany you?"

"Yeah! Everyone else was like _blah blah blah _lives of our own, _blah blah blah _sorry. Reeve was the only one who said he might be able to help me, but I'd have to wait for, like, a month so he has time to prepare. I was like 'a MONTH! Pssh I could FIND it by then!' So you're the only one left for me to ask," she said, a very small blush creeping up on her cheeks, "So, um, please? Pretty, pretty please will you go with me?"

"Of course. I can easily put my own personal agendas aside for now. They will still be there when we have retrieved your scale."

"Really!" she said, excitedly, jumping out of bed and colliding with me into a hug, "Thank you sooo much Vinnie!"

I patted her back gently and she subsided into giggles and jumped back into her bed. No sooner had she stopped giggling than I heard her start to snore. It has been an exhausting day.

I stood up wordlessly and pulled her covers up over her sleeping form. The nightstand caught my eye as I turned. The drawer had rolled open a little bit when she had been jumping furiously over to me and through the small slit I could make out a picture of Reeve poking me in Barret's sailor suit. I sighed and pushed it in fully, closing the picture in darkness.

Either way, the look she gave the picture was not something to be celebrated.


	3. A Slight Problem

A/N: Sorry I'm such a horribly slow updater. It's hard to juggle college and everything. BUT I really like this story, it's very Vincent. And I love Vinnie. So bear w/ me please!

And now without further ado:

( PS- I don't own FF7)

//Yuffie's POV\\ 

I had to admit that when I woke up the next day I was feeling happier than I had felt in weeks. I'm not sure why I was nervous to meet with Vincent, but it just seemed like he would just flat out blow me off like everyone else. He'd give me that Vincenty _look_ that said 'you've interrupted my brooding' and I'd feel all disappointed.

Vincent is…Vincent is…special to me.

And don't take that out of context or anything.

_…sigh…_

Spike and the gang are special to me too but…just not like Vincent. I use to have a big, super school girl crush on Spike, I'll admit, but it died quite early on. I realized that I did not want to be part of the crazy love triangle already happenin' with him. Cause then it'd be like a…love…rectangle…and Leviathan knows how the heck that would turn out.

Vincent never really appealed to me during our earlier travels. He was just the cool, stoic guy that would occasionally talk with me. It seemed like we always got stuck together on missions. We were always the two people nobody really wanted to mess with. The loud, annoying ninja girl. The quiet, creepy gunman. The stereotypes.

Sure, Vincent was pretty creepy at times and definitely a loner, but he was a genuinely nice guy. He was never mean to me like Cid. Or make fun of me like Barrett. He didn't pat my head like I was some ignorant little kid like Tifa. Or look at me like I was some sort of nuisance like Cloud.

And when I stole everyone's materia that one time, he gave me a whole different Vincenty look that I had never seen before… Hurt/rage/disappointment. It was all there. It made me really ashamed.

Does he trust me now?

…I hope so.

But a little bit after that, Vincent started to open up more. I mean, he wasn't so talkative that I had to tell him to shut up, but he'd make retorts and smirk. (Which is better than his "no feelings" mask that he so often wears.) I got to know him. I would go out of my way to find him.

I loved to try and make him smile. It was my mission everyday. And a few days before we knew we were heading into the Northern Crater for the final showdown, I made him smile. A real, true smile.

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I remember when we were in Midgar while Meteor was threatening to destroy the planet. I remember Vincent standing close by. He touched my arm and told me to be very careful while helping people to evacuate.

As I saw him fade into a building to do his part, I realized that I was in love with him. It wasn't a crush. It was something much more, something hard to define.

Of course, I'm not an idiot. I've always kept my options open. I can't imagine Vincent ever returning my feelings. It would be so fantastic if he did, but I'm convinced that I could be happy with Reeve too.

After Cait Sith's stunt with the keystone, he became the outsider too. The traitor.

Reeve is my kind of man.

Reeve is a prankster like me and a crazy mooglemanic and he's dorky and funny and I love him for that. He's the kind of guy a girl could definitely get use to.

But Reeve could never be Vincent. And Reeve could never, ever, not in a million years, take Vincent's place in my crazy heart.

I can tell that it bothers Vincent when I flirt with Reeve. And I can tell it bothers him immensely when Reeve flirts back. Is it because he likes me, secretly? I doubt it. I wish. (Oh Leviathan, do I wish.) I can't even hope for that though.

Vincent, in his mind, will always be with Lucrecia.

I wish Lucrecia was still alive so I could beat the CRAP outta her. I wish she was alive so I could SCREAM at her.

Vincent says that Lucrecia was a scientist. Well, she must be the stupidest smart person on the face of the planet to pass up a guy like Vincent. I can't even comprehend it. I know Vincent use to be all Turkey-style and cold blooded killer and all, but it was just a job. I bet he was still 125 gentlemanly. And now I know that although it took being killed to wake up, Vincent knows that the things he did was wrong.

…Speakin' of tall, dark and sexy as hell…he's been talkin' to me and I bet I'm s'pose to say something…

"Huh?" I said, blinking at him.

"Yuffie, I asked if we were planning on leaving today."

"Oh! Well, I kind of wanted to stay for the festival," I said, my voice fading a bit at the end. Leviathan knows Vincent will never want to go to a festival with me.

"A festival? Nibelheim has festivals now?"

"Actually, this is the second one this year. I guess now that more normal people live here instead of ShinRa employees, they wanna party or something. Would you mind if we stayed? I know I'm probably the last person on the planet you want to hang around with, but, it could be fun."

He looked at me strangely and I smiled awkwardly at him. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"Yuffie…?"

"Listen, it's fine. We can leave today. Just let me pack some stuff."

"No, I don't mind staying."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"Really."

"Great then! We should stop by and say hello to Cloud. Lemme just go to the bathroom real quick."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

--//Vincent's POV\\--

I felt a little strange after Yuffie had left to go to the bathroom. I kept thinking about what she had said.

_…I know I'm probably the last person on the planet you want to hang around with, but, it could be fun…_

Why would she think something like that? I have always enjoyed Yuffie's company…

"**You just don't get it, do ya? Sometimes I think you're really dumb. She likes you, moron! And she knows that you don't have eyes for anyone except that other woman.**"

'I can't believe that. What can Yuffie possibly see in me?'

"**Hey, your guess is as good as mine. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong.**"

I stared at the floor. Surely, this cannot be true.

As soon as I saw Yuffie come back into the room though and flash me one of her dazzling smiles, I knew that it was true. For some strange reason, I was not entirely appalled either. I knew it could never be, but in another life, another time, I would have been extremely flattered. Happy, even. Yuffie will never be as stunning as some women, but she has an exotic beauty that cannot be denied, and she is willful and cheerful, and is everything wonderful about life. And, unfortunately, in this life, in this time, I am dead.

And in a cheerful life, which I know she will lead, the living cannot stay happy with the dead.

She bounced out of the inn and towards a little hut right outside of town. I followed her, my thoughts simmering on the backburner as I saw Cloud, outside, chopping some wood.

Cloud understands me in most ways, which is rare, for me. I believe I also understand Cloud. He has done no true wrongs though, as far as I can see. He just blames himself for things that were out of his hands. He never asked Aeris to go and die for the planet. He never wanted that. Aeris made the choice long ago, whether he liked it or not.

**"I hate to be the voice of reason…oh wait, I don't really hate it, it's actually kind of fun," **Chaos said, chuckling, **"but isn't your situation exactly the same as Cloud's? That's right, it is!"**

'It is nothing of the sort. I could have saved Lucrecia,' I said, growling.

**"Yeah right.**** She made her choice, what did you say, long ago, whether you liked it or not," **Chaos smirked, using my own words against me, **"Besides, she didn't love you. She felt bad for being mixed up with your father's death. That's all it was. Pity and guilt. Mortals are so disgustingly stupid. You're all self loathing and guilty. Choices are choices. You made 'em. They happened. Nothing can change about them. You've just gotta accept and MOVE ON! Do you know how long Hellmasker and I have been waiting for you to get some action? Hellmasker and I want, like, the porn channels, and we're stuck with public broadcasting. Soooo boring."**

I frowned, trying not to listen to Chaos.

"Are you talking to somebody or something?" Yuffie asked, catching me off guard.

"What?"

"You were moving your lips awhile ago and then you had this weird spacey stare… Are your monsters givin' you grief or something?"

I blinked.

**"No grief lady! More like an enlightenment. 'Course…pooh-bear here doesn't want to be enlightened. He wants to sit around in a coffin and moan and groan about crap that happened ages ago. He seriously needs a board game or something. I've been told that Monopoly can last a lifetime, if played correctly."**

"You need not be concerned with it, Yuffie," I said, turning to Cloud. Apparently we had already reached him and I hadn't noticed.

"Hey Vincent," Cloud said, "I guess your blackouts aren't getting better then?"

I tried not to cringe as I realized that when they had first started happening I had gone to seek help from Cloud. And here I was trying to hide them from Yuffie…

I should have known that a ninja finds out one way or another.

"Blackouts?!" Yuffie exclaimed, turning on me, "Vince, why didn't you say something?"

"…I didn't feel that you needed to involve yourself."

Her face contorted into a hurt pout.

**"Doesn't a face like that make you want to turn it around? Into an 'O' or something," **Chaos said silkily. I could almost hear him lick his lips.

_"Rip her face off and hide your own disgusting one in it! Flesh mask, flesh mask, flesh mask!" _Hellmasker howled.

**"…That is so gross man."**

** "SHE SPEAKS."**

"Earth to Vincent!" Yuffie said, waving her hand in front of my face, "Did you just say 'flesh mask'?"

I became as rigid as my gun. This was unsafe. I was so foolish to stay in town with Yuffie.

"I apologize Yuffie. It seems I cannot go on this quest with you. I am too dangerous to be around right now," I said, turning on my heel, back into town to get my things from the inn.

"Wait! Hey!"

Cloud was the one to grab my arm and turn me around, and Yuffie was standing right behind him.

"Wait, Vincent. Tell us about it. Let us help you."

I shook my head.

"Look, tell us about it, and then if you still feel like you need to leave…"

I hesitated. All they wanted was to be informed of my current state. They were worried, and they were my friends. I did have…friends now.

I bowed my head in resignation.

"So what's going on?" Yuffie asked.

"Recently, I have been having blackouts. It started a little bit after a year of defeating Sephiroth. At first it was only a few minutes, then a few hours, and then I left towns to travel abroad. That's when _they_ started getting louder, more talkative. I can hardly hear my own thoughts at times. They talk to me freely now. And that day you found me in the town square…I had been taken over by the Galian Beast. I couldn't even stop it, and it wasn't a transformation. It was like he was me for awhile and I was in my own head, watching him do what he wanted to do."

Yuffie listened to me with a pained expression on her face. Cloud seemed to take it all in and nod.

"So, you're slowly starting to switch places?" Cloud asked.

"I suppose. It was a surreal event, and it hasn't happened since, but the Galian Beast had such a strong urge to find food that he just overwhelmed me. It's scary to think that any one of them could do it at any time."

"Then you should definitely stay with me," Yuffie said.

"Out of the question. I'm dangerous. If Hellmasker got his hands on you…I would never forgive myself."

"You already can't forgive yourself. Save it. You can't get rid of a ninja, Vince," she said, smiling at me.

I frowned.

"I know you don't want to let us help you," Cloud said softly, "but Yuffie is probably one of very few people on the planet who could at least contain you if such a thing did happen."

"What?" I asked incredulously, "I won't endanger her Cloud."

"I'm not as worried about Yuffie as I am an innocent villager," Cloud said seriously, "Vincent, hear me out, if you do become possessed by one of your more…undesirable demons, what would stop them from destroying a village and, with it, hundreds of innocent lives? At least Yuffie can defend herself against you. And even better, she knows you. She knows your attacks. Honestly, in my opinion, it's safest to have her with you."

I glared at Cloud. This was not a good idea.

"See Vince?" Yuffie smiled happily, "Spike agrees with me!"

"It seems I am vetoed," I said, sighing, "I do not like this arrangement though."

"Please Vincent," Cloud said, "It will be for the best. Although I am sorry you'll have to sit through hours of Yuffie's constant conversation…"

"Hey!" Yuffie said, putting her hands on her hips and giving Cloud a particularly evil glare, "He's not 'sitting through it'. He LIKES it!"

Cloud gave me a pained look. I could feel a smile spreading on my face against my will.

"Ha! See!" Yuffie whooped, throwing her hands in the air.

"Well, if this is the arrangement, then I will obey your suggestion Cloud. I have always trusted your judgment," I said.

"Yay!" Yuffie cheered.

"However, I think we should leave before the festival now."

"You were going to go to the festival?" Cloud asked, bewildered.

"Past tense."

"Well, Yuffie and I are both here to make sure nothing happens," Cloud said, "You should stay anyway. Tifa was planning on coming and so was Cid. It'll be fun. I'm sure they'd both like to see you. It's been awhile…"

"Three years!" Yuffie huffed.

"…Alright," I said grudgingly.

--------

Yuffie and I had returned to our room in the inn to get all of our things together so that we would be ready bright and early tomorrow morning after the festival.

I was still debating our plans in my mind. I felt wrong by endangering her. Cloud insisted that she would be fine, but if anything happened to her…

**"Jeez, Valentine, give us a little credit! It's not like we want to eat her or anything."**

Just as I was about to retort to Chaos, Yuffie's cell phone went off.

A strange, but very animated, song began chirping loudly at her. Yuffie flipped open her phone.

"Crouching tiger, hidden ninja!" Yuffie said cheerfully.

I initially tried to turn off my enhanced hearing until I heard the very distinct voice of Reeve Tuesti on the other line.

"You're not so hidden if you're talking," Reeve said.

"Bah, there's no one to hide from here except Vince and Cloud."

"…Vincent? As in…Vampiric Valentine?"

"The one and only. Ha ha ha!" Yuffie said animatedly, trying to sound like Count Dracula.

"Well! Good job Agent Yuffie on finding the corpse! Is he going to help you?"

"Yup!"

"Are you staying for the festival?"

"Yup!"

"Excellent! I was just on my way for a little vacationing and Nibelheim sounds delightful."

"What?! I thought you said you were really busy!"

"Yuffie, darling, you know I make time for you."

I saw Yuffie's cheeks turn a little red and I grinding my teeth as I violently stuffed a shirt into my bag.

"I pushed some things off and finished up on the rest of it. So I was thinking of picking up Tifa and coming down to the festival with her. And this way I could find out if you still needed help. Of course, now I would only be in the way, but I intend on having fun before you go."

"Cool! This'll be fun then!" Yuffie said, pumping an arm into the air, "You'll be here by dark?"

"Yes. Be ready to have some fun. I hope there's a pie throwing contest."

"Why?"

"Because I think you'd look wonderful with a little whip cream on you."

Yuffie definitely blushed this time. I had to bite down the yell that was boiling in my throat.

"Reeve, you freak, if you throw a pie at me I'm going to make you eat it."

"Promise?"

"Leviathan keep you, Reeve. I'll see you when you get here."

"I can't wait. Sayonara!"

"Long 'o', Reeve."

"SaYOOOOOOOOOOnara!"

"Bye!" Yuffie giggled as she flipped her phone shut, her blush still fresh on her cheeks, "Reeve's coming tonight too!"

She must have noticed the agitation in my movements because she came over to me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"You okay Vinnie? You look a little tense."

"It's nothing. Just arguing with my demons."

**"Hey! Don't use me as an excuse!"**

"Oh. Well, let's take a break. We're almost done anyway," Yuffie said, smiling up into my face, "Let's get you something else to wear. We don't want Reeve making fun of you all night."


End file.
